Potatohead People's Kosmichemusik is a mind-opener

Kosmichemusik, the third collaborative EP from Montreal beatmaker AstroLogical and Vancouver producer Nick Wisdom’s Potatohead People project, doesn’t home in on the electronic krautrock experiments of its possibly Popol Vuh–indebted title, but its synth-jazz soundscapes are mind-expanding nonetheless.

The six-song set is bookended with instrumentals, with the title track opening with fluttery softcore keyboard blips, some mildly wub-wubbed synth sounds, and ’90s trip-hop rhythms. The closer finds the perfect middle ground between New Jack Swing’s party beats and a terrifyingly oscillated John Carpenter soundtrack.

The rest of Kosmichemusik features a handful of guest vocalists, from Moka Only bringing his Sugar Bear drawl to the light and bouncy organ swirler “It Gets Good,” to veteran Detroit MC Frank Nitt, of Frank N’ Dank, dropping lines about his best girl on the lovely, electro-funk-flavoured “Back to My Shit”.

Vancouver soul singer Claire Mortifee takes the EP in the wildest direction, though, on “Blossoms”. Atop a new age–style bed of bird chirps and fluid guitar picking, the singer lists off her likes as if she’s taking part in an ’80s video-dating service (number one on her list appears to be “long walks alone around my neighbourhood”).

As previously noted, Kosmichemusik doesn’t quite live up to the title’s krautrock connotations, but it’s more than ready to send you on a cosmic journey.